NPD: Gunman in Freedom Oil robbery likely is not BPD’s “Business Bandit”

Posted on January 17, 2019
Freedom robbery
Normal Police believe the gunman who held up the Freedom Oil Station on South Main Street Thursday night is not Bloomington’s ‘”Business Bandit.” (Photo by Howard Packowitz/WJBC)

 

By Howard Packowitz

NORMAL – There was another armed robbery in the Twin-Cities Thursday night, the 10th since early December, but authorities don’t think the gunman in the latest robbery is the so-called ‘Business Bandit.’

Normal Police Lt. Nick Thacker said no one was hurt when a black man dressed in dark clothing and armed with a handgun ran off with an undisclosed amount of cash from the Freedom Oil Station at 601 S. Main St. in Normal, across from fire department headquarters, about 9:05 p.m. Among the evidence is a video from Freedom Oil’s video surveillance camera.

“We’ve collected evidence. There’s some evidence I can’t disclose just because of the nature and the investigation, but there doesn’t appear to be a link between the so-called ‘Bloomington Business Bandit’ and our suspect in this case,” said Lt. Thacker.

Bloomington Police announced only a day earlier that the man they dubbed as the “Business Bandit” is the robber who held up at least seven of the nine previous robberies in Bloomington-Normal since December 8.

Anyone with information about the robbery in Normal is asked to contact NPD at 309-454-9525 or McLean County Crime Stoppers at 309-828-1111.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

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